Though by no means a population expert, I have been informally monitoring
the owl population on Bainbridge Island now for four years, with emphasis
on the Barred Owl population. The first Barred Owl showed up here in
January of 1993. This year, I had four breeding pairs of BOs, and have
been able to sight at least 13 individuals. One pair of them evicted a
pair of Great-Horned Owls that had historically nested at Gazzam Lake. (I
was attacked on two occassions by the male of this pair, though I never
did find the nest). From my micro-perspective, the BO as a species is an
extremely aggressive and territorial bird that is still in its infancy in
range expansion. Back east where it originated, it is known for being a
deep mature woods bird, avoiding humans. I found one nest this spring
that was located in the backyard of two homes, less than 100 feet from a
hot tub. It has adapted in its westward expansion. I see it as a very
real threat to the Northern Spotted Owl, more so than the timber
industry. I forsee it as being a difficult bird to find in Washington
twenty years from now. It would be very interesting to me to redo the
work of Thomas Hamer in 1988 to compare populations as he saw them then
as to now.
Great-horned Owls are now a difficult owl to find here, though they still
exist. I have always had more difficulty locating them because they do
not respond as readily to calls, and are a more quiet bird most of the
year.
As for Western Screech-Owls, their population here seems to be holding
its own, though in at least two instances historic nesting pairs have
been replaced by Barred Owls. George Gerdts and I once witnessed a
Barred Owl unsuccessfully attack a WSO that we called in to observe.
Lastly, the Northern Saw-whet population here fluctuates significantly
seasonally as well as yearly. Last year they had a poor showing, while
the year before I had 21 locations on the Island where I had had a
response.

Jamie Acker
Bainbridge Island

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